The BIG CHEESE of MARDI GRAS

A Slice of the. . .

The Krewe of Tucks rolls on the Saturday before Mardi Gras Day
See the Official Krewe of Tucks site or the Big Cheese Info Slice for more news.

There's nothing quite like a first ride with a Mardi Gras krewe.  After nine straight years of Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, I thought I had about seen it all.  I knew I was in for something entirely new and different though when my friend Mark invited me to join his float in the Krewe of Tucks.  What a better way to celebrate my 10th Mardi Gras anniversary and 30th birthday -- both of which just happened to occur on the 30th anniversary of Tucks.  Some would call that just a coincidence -- I call it fate.

Two of my best friends, Nathan and Rich, similarly jumped at the opportunity to ride.  Although we were not able to make it down to the Coronation Ball nor the distribution parties, we were lucky enough to get hooked up with Jim.  He was also on our float and took care of picking up our throws for us.  Thanks Jim (see his A Tuck's World web site from the links slice).

We got to the staging area early in the morning to set up and prepare for our 1:00 p.m. starting time.  It took a while to string up all the beads and arrange the toy throws, but once it was over, all we had to do was relax until the ride.  Wandering around the staging area, we were able to meet some of the others in the parade like the guys on the toilet bowl float behind us.  That was when we also got to know the walkers directly behind us better (they stored some of their coolers and stuff on our float).

We had some brief pre-parade excitement when a guy in a viking hat ran onto our float to escape from the police.  Too bad for him it turned out to be a bad hiding place.  The police came on the float and not only arrested him, but another woman (scantily clad, I might add) who didn't seem to be a krewe member either.  The whole experience was somewhat surreal, but no doubt is par for the course with this organization.

We donned our costumes around 1:30 (parades are always late) and got set to roll.  The theme of the '98 Tucks parade was "30 Note-torious Off Key Years."  In keeping with the overall music theme, our float number 10 was decked out with a giant blue fiberglass Mahalia Jackson gospel singer at the front.  The riders each received orange robes and were supposed to be members of the choir.  I'm not so sure there'd be many congregations overly proud to have this group sing, though - we were a pretty rambunctious lot before even starting.

Once we were finally underway I knew this 2-3 hour ride would seem like just a few minutes.  We were throwing stuff from the second we started moving.  In fact, I had given out a couple bags of beads before we even rounded the corner and took our place in the parade route.  Once we were actually in the parade, the ride became a blur.  Stacks of cups, some toilet paper, a couple long pearls for the kids -- it was all we could do to throw off all of the stuff that we had meticulously arranged just a couple hours before.  Different people tried yelling to us asking for particular things, but we rarely were able to hear them.  For those who we did hear, generally by the time we got the item, the float had moved too far past their point.  About a third of the way into the route we passed a bar with a giant Krewe of Tucks banner.  Needless to say they were showered with throws.

Of all the stuff we had to throw, the giant bones and toothbrushes were probably the most fun.  I can't explain it, but there's just something satisfying about holding and swinging a big plastic bone over your head.  The crowd seemed to love doing it too.  And my, how they all lit up when Nathan started the bone chant -- a bone in each hand drumming the railing.  Bone, bone, bone, bone . . .

Not long after the first third of the route I heard a guy yelling, "Cheese!"  I looked down and saw a friend running alongside the back of the float, arms outstretched.  I of course did what any good friend would do -- I grabbed a huge amount of the fattest pearls and hurled them down on him.  He caught the armful of them and kept coming forward.  By this time, though, half of the kids had seen what was happening and rushed to join in.  The next thing my friend knew, he was dripping in kids -- they were hanging off all over him while grabbing at his beads.  I almost fell off the float I was laughing so hard.  As he fought to keep up with the float, the kids kept coming.  He finally had to stop to protect the few beads he had left.  I hope I never lose that picture in my mind.

Just a couple minutes after that the parade came to a grinding halt.  One of the floats up ahead had a flat or something so we had to wait for about a half hour.  This didn't turn out to be a bad thing, though.  Our bead friend was able to catch up with us and with him was the rest of our group of friends that came down.  This 30 minute break was badly needed.  We were able to catch our breath, drink some fluids, and take in the sights.  We were also able to shower our friends in beads and toys and get in a bunch of pictures (thanks guys).  About half the people in this last parade picture were with our group.  Lucky to have stopped where we did.

After that point the ride returned to its frantic pace.  The next thing I remember we were approaching Lee Circle where the grandstands are.  I was hanging over the edge of the float unrolling some Tucks toilet paper when Rich told me that Rob Ivey was there in the street.  "You know," he said, "the View From A Float guy!"  The next thing Rob knew he was walking away with an armful of long fat beads.  (You can see his View From A Float web site from the links slice.)  Chip Curley, of Dead Elvis fame, was supposed to be in the stands and we promised to throw him some good stuff beforehand, but we must have been going about 40 miles an hour when we passed.  By the time we figured out where Elvis and Elvira were, they were too far away (sorry guys).  (You can see his Mardi Gras Dead Elvis web site from the links slice.)

We finally hit Canal Street and I started to relax.  The end of the parade was near and I wanted to savor every last moment.  I was also running out of good stuff so this is the point where my throws became considerably more picky.  We spent the last few blocks of the route gathering a few things together and preparing to unload.   When we finally did stop and disembark, it was hard to get through the throngs of people amassed in front of the hotel.  We basically made a run for it and got in before being tackled.  We partied for the rest of the day and night at the Tucks Extravaganza Ball with our fellow riders, walkers, and several people in our group of friends who were smart enough to get tickets.  That Ball was something else, but its story would fill another page, so I'll spare you the details.

As for the whole experience, it was incredible.  I now can't imagine going to Mardi Gras and not riding with Tucks.  My many thanks goes out to the people that took us under their wing and helped out the rookies.  This includes about everyone in Tucks, especially Mark and Cathy, Jim and Lynn, the rest of float 10, and of course our Captain, Patti.  I can't wait until the next ride.

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